Report: US Q1 pay-TV losses slow

Findings from Leichtman Research Group (LRG) indicate that the largest pay-TV providers in the US – representing about 95 per cent of the market – lost about 305,000 net video subscribers in Q1 2018, compared to a pro forma loss of about 515,000 subscribers in Q1 2017.

The top pay-TV providers now account for about 91.9 million subscribers – with the top six cable companies having 47.8 million video subscribers, satellite TV services 31.1 million subscribers, the top telephone companies 9.2 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered pay-TV services 3.8 million subscribers.

Key findings for the quarter include:

The top six cable companies lost about 285,000 video subscribers in Q1 2018 – compared to a loss about 115,000 subscribers in Q1 2017

Satellite TV services lost about 375,000 subscribers in Q1 2018 – compared to a loss of about 340,000 subscribers in Q1 2017

The top telephone providers lost about 50,000 video subscribers in Q1 2018 – compared to a loss of 325,000 subscribers in Q1 2017

Net losses for the top Telcos in Q1 2018 were the fewest in any quarter since Q32015

AT&T U-verse did not report net video losses for the first time since Q1 2015

Traditional pay-TV services (not including Internet-delivered services) lost about 710,000 subscribers in Q1 2018 – compared to a loss of about 780,000 in Q1 2017

“The number of pay-TV subscribers for the top providers peaked six years ago. Since Q1 2012, top providers have lost about 3.4 million total pay-TV subscribers,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. “Since the industry’s peak, traditional services have lost about 7.2 million subscribers, while the top publicly reporting Internet-delivered services gained about 3.8 million subscribers.”